Page 76 of Speak of the Devil
“Perfect. The coast is clear again, so I’m going to bip out of here. Just remember that I’ll be listening the whole time. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Delia thought she had plenty to worry about no matter what he said, but she didn’t bother to contradict him. “Then I’ll head upstairs.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her an encouraging squeeze…and then promptly disappeared.
Whew. Maybe someday she’d get used to all this.
Doing her best to look unruffled, she reached up to smooth her hair and then headed out to the casino floor so she could make her way over to the elevators. Luckily, no one seemed to be paying much attention to her, but why should they? It wasn’t asif Robert Hendricks’ offices on the tenth floor were locked off in some restricted penthouse. Anyone could go up there…although she had a feeling that any interlopers who tried to go into his office without permission would soon find a security guard escorting them off the premises.
She’d been invited here, so Delia wasn’t too worried about getting hauled away for trespassing. No, she was much, much more concerned about exactly what the hell she was supposed to say to Robert. Caleb seemed certain he was their villain, but she wasn’t nearly so sure. Although she’d already decided that her part-demon client was the one who deserved her loyalty the most, she still didn’t think it was the best idea in the world to napalm the bridges she’d built with Mr. Hendricks.
And yet, here she was.
Head up, she exited the elevator and made her way to his office. Today, the double glass doors that opened onto the space were unlocked, signaling that he was waiting for her, so she went on in.
He’d been standing by one of the windows, watching the ever-changing neon lights of the Strip, but he turned around almost at once and sent her a pleasant smile.
“Delia. Thank you again for accommodating my schedule and coming at the end of the day. I hope I haven’t interfered with any of your plans.”
Right then, the only plan she had in mind was the one she and Caleb had cooked up together…and maybe grabbing some takeout afterward if she somehow managed to survive this encounter with her dignity intact.
“No, not at all,” she said, wishing Robert wasn’t acting so nice. This would have been a lot easier if he was some arrogant asshole who thought everyone else on the planet had been put there to serve him. “I’m glad you could take the meeting — there are a couple of things I needed to talk to you about.”
His expression revealed nothing except simple curiosity. “Have you learned something new?”
Oh, she’d learned a whole bunch of things. Whether any of them were particularly relevant to his activities was a whole other question.
“There’s definitely been some detectable demon activity,” she replied. “A couple of attacks.”
At once, Robert Hendricks’ brows drew together. “Not against you, I hope.”
“No,” Delia said quickly. “I’m fine. And it wasn’t the sort of thing that would have sent anyone to the hospital.”
Well, she hoped not. Caleb had mentioned a traffic accident, but he hadn’t seemed too worried about the other parties involved. Was that because he’d seen them walk away, or was it simply that he was part demon and therefore didn’t give a shit?
She didn’t want to believe that of him. Also, she’d seen his face when he talked about his mother. Those fleeting expressions of guilt and worry…yes, and of sadness…didn’t seem like the sort of looks a being who cared about no one other than himself would have worn.
“That’s good to hear,” Robert said. Then his head tilted slightly as he regarded her for a moment. “Do you have any idea who might have summoned the things?”
Talk about giving her an opening she could drive a tank right through.
She pulled in a breath.
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” she replied, glad that she sounded so steady, so brisk and unconcerned. “You see, I’ve uncovered some evidence that suggests you might have been the one to do the summoning.”
For the longest moment, he only stared at her. Surely as soon as he opened his mouth, he’d tell her how ridiculous she was being.
But he didn’t.
No, instead, he began to laugh.
His reaction was so surreal that for a second or two, Delia wondered if he’d somehow misheard her. After all, who in the world would break into cackles of almost hysterical laughter after being told they were a possible suspect in a series of demon attacks?
After a few seconds, though, he seemed to regain control of himself, although he still grinned at her like a shark who’d just swallowed a whole school of minnows.
“That’s quite the imagination you have, Ms. Dunne,” he said. “I’m sorry for the laughter just now, but I couldn’t think of how else to respond.”
A flat denial would have seemed much more appropriate, but she thought it better not to provoke him too much.
